Can a Novice Cure Cancer?

A wonderful story from the LA Times about radio engineer John Kanzius, who may have discovered a way to target and kill cancer cells with radio waves. It's too early to say, but it could turn out to be a cure for all types of cancer:

Kanzius did not have a medical background, not even a bachelor's degree, but he knew radios. He had built and fixed them since he was a child, collecting transmitters, transceivers, antennas and amplifiers, earning an amateur radio operator license. Kanzius knew how to send radio wave signals around the world. If he could transmit them into cancer cells, he wondered, could he then direct the radio waves to destroy tumors, while leaving healthy cells intact?

It seems the answer might be 'yes.' Read the whole thing.

By the way, I've written about Kanzius before.

Jimmy V at the 1993 ESPYs

I notice that the ESPYs are coming up in a few days, and more people are reaching my page in search of Jimmy Valvano's speech at the 1993 show. I don't really watch the ESPYs, but that speech touched me and many others who've lost a loved one to cancer. So I'll post it and think about my mom -- who thought Valvano was fantastic:




The text is here, as well.

Why Have we Not Cured Cancer?

Could it be because we've been sending doctors to try to figure it out, instead of physicists who know how to use nano-particles:

SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla. -- A Florida man with no medical training has invented a machine that he believes may lead to a cure for cancer.

John Kanzius, who turns 63 on March 1, is a former broadcasting executive from Pennsylvania who wondered if his background in physics and radio could come in handy in treating the disease from which he suffers himself.

Inside his Sanibel Island garage, Kanzius invented a machine he believes sits on the brink of a major medical breakthrough.

The machine began to take shape four years ago, when his dreams of retirement were put on hold after he was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia, he told West Palm Beach television station WPBF.

Kanzius' invention is not flashy, and it looks like a piece of 20th-century hardware. It doesn't even have a name.

"It's a kick-ass cancer cell generator," Kanzius said...

Now, some of the nation's most prominent doctors and scientists are using Kanzius' machines in their research. In January, researchers said they performed a breakthrough at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

"The complete killing of pancreatic cells in laboratory conditions is encouraging," Dr. Steve Curley said.

Curley is currently testing whether cancerous tumors can be wiped out in animals.

"We've got a lot more work to do, but this is very interesting preliminary work," Curley told WPBF.

Kanzius explained that his machine uses a solution filled with nanoparticles, which measure no more than one-billionth of a meter. A test subject would be injected with either gold or carbon nanoparticles, which would make their way through the body and attach to the cancerous cells. The test subject would then enter the machine and receive a dose of radio frequency waves, theoretically heating and killing the cancerous cells in moments and leaving nearby cells untouched.

"That is the holy grail ... Research has shown that they're able to kill them once they attach to the cancer cells," Kanzius said...